It is hereby declared to be the policy of the
City of Oswego to prevent excessive, unnecessary, unnatural or unusually
loud noise within the limits of the City of Oswego. It is further
the policy of the City of Oswego to secure and promote the public
health, comfort, convenience, safety, welfare and prosperity and the
peace of quiet of the City of Oswego and its inhabitants.

Any activity necessary or incidental to the erection, demolition,
assembling, altering, installing or equipping of buildings, public
or private highways, roads, premises, parks, utility lines or other
property, including but not limited to the related activity such as
line clearing, grading, earthmoving excavation, blasting, filling
and landscaping, but not including agriculture.

The unit for measuring the volume of a sound, based upon
the pressure level of a sound. For the purpose of this chapter, the
standard reference pressure stated herein will be used to assure a
consistent and standard reference for measuring sound. The sound-pressure
level measured in decibels is equal to 20 times the logarithm to the
base 10 of the ratio of the effective pressure of the sound measured.
"dB" is the abbreviation for decibel.

Any person who has regular control of a device or site, including
but not limited to the owner of a freehold or the premises or lesser
estate therein or mortgages thereof or an agent or lessee of such
person.

Includes the singular and plural and also any individual;
any property owner and or lessee; any firm; a corporation; a political
subdivision; a government agency, including any agency of the City
of Oswego; an association or an organization, including but not limited
to officers, department heads, employees, agents and/or independent
contractors thereof; or any legal entity whatsoever.

The quantity in decibels measured by a sound-level meter
satisfying the requirements of American National Standards specifications
for sound-level meters. Sound level is the frequency-weighted sound-pressure
level obtained with the standardized dynamic characteristics "fast"
and "slow" and weighting (a), (b) or (c); unless otherwise indicated,
the A-weighting slow response shall apply.

An instrument, which includes but is not limited to a microphone,
amplifier, rms detector, integrator or time average or output meter
that measures sound-pressure fluctuations. The output meter reads
sound-pressure level when properly calibrated and the instrument is
of a Type 2 or better as specified in American National Standards
Institute Publication S1.4-1971 or its successor publication. The
manufacturer's published indication of compliance with such specifications
shall comply.

Any excessive, unnecessary or unusual loud sound or any sound
or noise that either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort,
repose, health, peace or safety of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities
or which causes injury to animal life or damage to a property or business.
Standards to be considered in determining whether said noise is unreasonable
in a given situation include, but are not limited to, the following:

It shall be unlawful for any person to make,
continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud or unreasonable
noise, as defined herein, or any noise which either annoys, disturbs,
injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety
of others within the limits of the City.

No person shall use, operate or permit to be used
or operated any radio, radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph,
jukebox or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing
of sound in such a manner as to disturb the peace, quiet and comfort
of the neighboring inhabitants by creating unreasonable noise across
a real property boundary line. The noise shall be measured from the
real property boundary line nearest to the source of the complaint.

No person shall use, operate or permit to be
used or operated a sound reproducing device upon any public street
or place without obtaining permission in writing of the Common Council
prior to use or operation.

The Common Council shall not refuse said permit
unless there is substantial and convincing evidence that said sound
reproduction would result in an unreasonable interference of others
or unreasonable interference with the safety, peace and quiet of those
on surrounding private property or use of public streets and places.

Animals. No person shall own, harbor or possess any
animal (including birds) that continuously or frequently creates an
unreasonable noise across a real property boundary line. This provision
is specifically intended to address a barking dog to be defined as
a dog that continuously barks for a ten-minute period or intermittently
for 30 minutes.

Alarms. No person shall maintain an alarm system in a building/residence or motor vehicle unless said alarm system is capable of and shall automatically cease its operation within a fifteen-minute period from the time of activation, and any person utilizing the local alarm system within the City of Oswego shall be deemed to have given consent to the police and/or fire officials of the City of Oswego to disable such alarm pursuant to the provision of § 57-12 of this Code.

All motor vehicles operated within the limits of the
City shall be subject to the noise standards and decibel levels as
set forth in the regulations of the State of New York Vehicle and
Traffic Law.[1] No person shall operate a motor vehicle in such a manner
as to create unreasonable noise by the spinning or squealing of tires
on said vehicle or in such a manner to at any time create the sound-pressure
level emitted by said vehicle to exceed the limitations set forth
in the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 386 and
1162.

No person shall operate or cause or permit to be operated
any motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) in excess
of 10,000 pounds or any auxiliary equipment attached to such vehicle
for a period longer than 20 minutes in any hour while the vehicle
is stationary, for reasons other than traffic congestion, on a public
right-of-way or public space so that the sound therefrom is audible
across a residential real property boundary between the hours of 8:00
p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day.

Outdoor equipment; power tools. No person shall use
or operate or permit the use or operation of any powered tools or
equipment, including but not limited to saws, sanders, drills, grinders,
lawn or garden tools, lawn mowers, tractors and leaf blowers, when
used outdoors during the nighttime hours, so as to create unreasonable
noise.

Construction. No person shall engage in construction
or permit construction, as defined herein in such a manner as to cause
unreasonable noise during the nighttime on weekdays and weekends,
exclusive of emergency work and safety/protective devices.

No person shall engage in or permit any person to be engaged in construction activities which create excessive noise at the property limits of the construction site between the hours of 9:00 p.m. of one day and 7:00 a.m. of the following day on any day of the week, except as is permitted in Subsection H(2) and (3) hereof.

Following the receipt of a written application for a variance from the requirements of Subsection H(1), the City Engineer's office may, within a reasonable time, grant a variance authorizing such construction activities upon the applicant's demonstration of hardship and/or practical difficulty in meeting said requirements or upon a determination that the public interest will be served by the granting of the requested variance. The City Engineer's office shall set any stipulations deemed necessary in the interest of the public health, safety and/or welfare at the time of granting such a variance.

In the case of an emergency, construction activities
directly connected with the abatement of such emergency may be undertaken
without obtaining a variance, for a period not to exceed 72 hours
from the commencement of such activities, during which time application
for a variance hereunder shall be made. However, notification must
be made to the Police Department together with an explanation, in
writing, of why said construction is an emergency. In such an emergency,
construction activities shall not continue after the seventy-two-hour
period unless prior to the expiration of that period verbal or written
approval is issued by the City Engineer or his or her authorized subordinates
to continue such activities and unless written confirmation of any
verbal approval is issued within four hours following the start of
the next normal business day of the City Engineer's office. Approval
or confirmation shall not be withheld unreasonably.

Places of public assembly. No person shall operate
or permit the use or operation of a public place of assembly, including
but not limited to a restaurant, bar, cafe, discotheque or dance hall,
in which the sound level is equal to or exceeds 55 dBs in a residential
area or 65 dBs in a commercial area for more than 30 seconds at the
location of said assembly.

Noise-sensitive zones. No person shall create or permit
the creation of any unreasonable noise exceeding 55 dB on any street,
sidewalk or public place adjacent to any school, church, house of
worship, senior citizen center, library, court or authorized day-care
center while in use or adjacent to any hospital or nursing home at
any time provided that signs are displaced so as to identify such
location as listed above.

It shall
be unlawful for any person in charge of a party or other social event
that occurs on any private or public property to allow that party
or event to produce unreasonable noise in a loud, annoying or offensive
manner such that noise from the party interferes with the comfort,
repose, health or safety of members of the public within any building
or outside building, or recklessly creates the risk thereof.

No person
shall conduct parties or other gatherings of people whereby unreasonable
noises are emitted after 9:00 p.m. and before 7:00 a.m. as to unreasonably
interfere with the quiet, comfort and repose of any person in any
dwelling or other type of residence.

It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue or cause to be made or continued any noise which exposes any person to continuous sound levels in excess of those shown in the table, below, unless an exception as set forth in § 165-6 herein shall be applicable. Police can order that said noise be ceased if said noise is not in compliance with this section and if said noise does not fall into the category of an exception.

Any and all activities that are permitted on a temporary
basis in compliance with all laws and for which a license or permit
has been issued or permission has been granted by the City of Oswego,
including but not limited to parades, fireworks displays, all Harborfest-sponsored
events, Farmer's Market, events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce,
concerts, car racing and other events held at the Oswego Speedway.

The Common Council of the City of Oswego shall
have the authority to grant special variances, issue temporary permits
and suspend any of the provisions of this chapter upon such conditions
and for such time as said Council shall deem fit to best serve the
public health and welfare and the quality of life in the City of Oswego.

Any person seeking a variance or temporary permit
pursuant to this section shall file an application with the Common
Council. Said application shall consist of a verified letter signed
by the applicant containing information that demonstrates that it
would constitute an unreasonable hardship on the applicant, on the
community or other persons to bring the sound or activity for which
the variance is sought into compliance with this chapter. In addition,
said letter shall contain the following information:

In determining whether to grant or deny the application,
the Common Council shall consider the hardship, to the applicant,
the community and other persons, of not granting the variance as well
as the adverse impact on the health, safety and welfare of the persons
affected, the adverse impact on the property affected and any other
adverse impacts of granting the variance.

It shall be within the sole discretion of the Common
Council whether to grant the application for a variance or special
permit. The Common Council shall have the power to impose restrictions,
conditions and the recording of covenants upon any sound source site,
including time limits on permitted activity, in the event that he/she
shall grant any variance or special permit hereunder.

Any person who violates any provisions of this
chapter shall be guilty of an offense and shall, upon conviction,
be subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 for
the first offense. The penalty for a second or subsequent offense
shall be not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for
a period of 15 days, or both such fine and imprisonment. Each day
said violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense and shall be punishable as such.